Oct. 15, 2013HGTV.ca Editorial Team

HGTV Canada Facebook fan, Susan MacIntyre asked, “Mike we put laminate flooring down and the floors are not even just on the north side of the house…out about 3 inches. My question is, can we adjust the floor from the basement? Only the north side?”

Mike Holmes replied, “Adjusting your floor from the basement means that the problem has to do with structure. But if it was a structure issue, three inches out is a lot. You would start to see cracks in your walls; your doors would jam or open on their own; your windows would stick. So the problem is probably in the subfloor. You have to pull up your flooring and check what’s happening underneath. The way floors are built is first you have your floor joists—2 x 8s, 16 inches on centre. That’s minimum code. Then over your floor joists is your sheathing. According to minimum code there should be at least ⅝ inches of OSB (oriented strand board) sheathing on top of your floor joists—plywood is best, particleboard is unacceptable.

If you’re not the original homeowner, the floors could have been replaced a couple times. For whatever reason, previous contractors might have built up the sheathing on the north side of your home. Maybe they didn’t get rid of the old sheathing and just installed the new boards on top. The only way to know for sure—and to fix the problem—is by pulling up flooring and checking the subfloor.”

Check back next week for more tips from the pro, and don’t forget to tune in for all-new episodes of Holmes Makes it Right, Tuesdays at 9PM ET.